The currency wars of recent years have done little to boost global economic growth, and nations would do better to adopt structural economic changes, says Komal Sri-Kumar, president of macroeconomic consulting firm Sri-Kumar Global Strategies.
Both the European Central Bank and Bank of Japan have worked to depress their currencies, hoping to boost exports. The dollar hit a seven-year high against the yen last week and a two-year high against the euro.
But the currency moves have done little to lift economic growth in either the eurozone or Japan. The eurozone economy grew only 0.1 percent in the second quarter from the first, and Japan's economy shrank an annualized 7.1 percent in the second quarter.
"Unfortunately, playing with exchange rates is a zero-sum game,"
Kumar writes in the Financial Times. "Any benefit to the depreciating country would be fleeting as trading nations fight back with similar measures."
Instead, countries should "implement structural changes that would expand world trade," he says. "The first of these is to open market segments that were previously closed to competition.
"Currency wars are ultimately destructive. Structural changes would be the lasting way to boost global growth."
Experts say the Bank of Japan's decision earlier this month to increase the scope of its easing might intensify currency conflicts.
"Whenever you have these kinds of disruptive moves by central banks, there's always going to be fallout effects," Boris Schlossberg, managing director of currency strategy at BK Asset Management, tells
CNBC.
Sean Callow, senior currency strategist at Westpac, tells the news service, "The hottest currency war today is Japan vs. Korea. That's probably the one to keep an eye on."
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